repossessions

A Florida woman who allegedly left her kid inside her car while she gambled at an internet cafe found her vehicle and child missing when she got back. It turns out a repo man had swooped in and taken her car, unaware of its precious cargo. Now the woman faces charges of neglect.

It’s a line of work that begs to be turned into George Clooney’s next existential Oscar bait film — a high-end repo man who swiped the toys of the wealthy to repay debt. CNN profiles Ken Cage, whose job it is to nab Gulfstreams, Cessnas, yachts and what have you, with the aid of former pro wrestler Randy Craft, fated to be played in a movie by Mickey Rourke.

A San Jose, Calif. woman found out that if you’re late with your car payment and have some bad luck, you could have your child repossessed as well as your car. The San Jose Mercury news reports the horrifying accident in which the repo man accidentally kidnapped her child.

When Patrick Dunn’s auto dealership in New Jersey went out of business a few months ago, something weird happened to “40 or 50” customers who had bought cars from him, writes Bob Braun at NJ.com. The company Dunn had taken out business loans with, Automotive Finance Corporation (AFC), went to Arkansas and asked for reposession of the cars in New Jersey. The Arkansas department of motor vehicles assumed AFC meant for unsold cars on the lot, so they granted the request—and now AFC says it owns titles to cars that people are already driving and paying for.

We’ve talked about this issue a few times here on Consumerist and now the New York Times has gotten into the act with an article about people who’ve chosen use the new service “You Walk Away” to let the bank take over their mortgages after their homes turned out to be bad investments.

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